


Despair Virus

by saixhara



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Also technically Mastermind Leon AU, Alter Ego is a precious bean, By implied I mean Kirigiri/Asahina, F/F, I edited this too much, I need to edit some of the past chapters still, I use gender neutral pronouns for Chihiro, M/M, Mastermind Chiaki AU, Mastermind Chihiro AU, Other, as well as Togami/Naegi, boy that's a lot of innuendos, but Leon's only there because there are barely any Chihiro/Leon fics, but he is a furry, but he quickly stops, but it's sfw, first non oc fic - yay, haha I reference naegami a lot, he hasn't spoken yet tho, i have no clue why I put Mondo in the fic tbh, im sorry I'm trash for these ships and mastermind chihiro, ive probably referenced Ishimondo, ive probably sworn somewhere tho, please don't judge me too hard 0-0''', psychopathic fluff? idk how to explain it, sassy leon? sassy leon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-08 00:25:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10373514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saixhara/pseuds/saixhara
Summary: I've been writing this for a while and looking back it's mainly just my favourite things: Chihiro/Leon and Chihiro and Chiaki destroying the world with the power of computers hahaIt's written in the POV of Leon.Actual Helpful Description:A mastermind Chihiro AU in which Chihiro and Chiaki are both the masterminds of the killing game and, as Chihiro's boyfriend (gender neutral term needed) Leon was spared, but trapped in a room with broken limbs. Alter Ego went rouge from Chihiro as it started thinking hopeful thoughts and left to help the survivors of the killing game.Even more summarised: Leon's adventures after not dying and not remembering all his memories.I really need a better title for this I'm terrible with titles. :')





	1. Startup

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for considering to read this I've been writing it for months and I still hate half of it :')  
> Sorry if anything feels forced v-v  
> I might update at some point next week if anybody is interested! I'm kinda debating the next chapter at the moment. 0-0'''

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically the summary you got before you clicked the link.  
> Leon remembers, is dragged everywhere, is forced to stand up, and gets knocked out. Wonderful

They were dropping like flies. One by one, the death toll rose. Yet nobody stopped them. There was a valid reason for this, however.

There was almost nobody left.

Those who had survived were too scared to come out of hiding, as monsters stalked the streets. It was a truly apocalyptic - no, despairing - situation.

I never imagined someone as innocent as them would be the cause of all this. I didn't even remember this had happened because of them. But now I do.

I don't entirely trust my memory though. You never know what they could have done to the memories. They could have manipulated them for all I knew.

'I am Leon Kuwata. The Ultimate All Star. I attended Hope's Peak and then the world went to shit.' That's all I know for sure. That, and the other students who attended. There were always a few of them that stuck out to me. Naegi of course - he's one of my best friends! Chihiro stood out like a white rabbit near a black wall. She seemed cute, but I soon found out that... well, 'she' is entirely incorrect. I suppose Maizono stuck out too, but she's dead now. And that's my fault.

The killing game was ruthless. I was glad to be out on the first round, but being pummelled by baseballs is not the the way I expected to go out. The headmaster, Monokuma, said it was an execution but if so... why am I still alive? Well I suppose that's an easy question. They kept me alive while the others died.

Ever since being "executed" I've been strapped to this chair, forced to watch the monitor in front of me - the monitor that showed everything that was being broadcasted to anyone with a working television. It showed the camera feeds, switching as the students moved from one room to the next. It showed every murder and every execution. Everybody in those executions died for good. Yet I was still going strong, despite a few dents in my arms and legs (which, might I add, I could not move at all without immense pain, last time I checked).

I knew I was alive, because they kept visiting me. Usually at night, while the other students were asleep or meant to be asleep. They would just talk to me. Telling me one despairing plan after another, an endless supply of hopelessness and death and despair.

You might be wondering who they are. Well, as it turns out, we were dating before my memory loss. I never thought I would be gay for someone, but I guess not. They're the mastermind, and they've quite succeeded the feat of "Most despairing event in the history of mankind." They have the power of machinery and a very manipulative tongue. Their small height and adorable appearance lulls unaware strangers into despair, luring them into a false sense of security through the use of their looks. They could pull off almost any look, despite not being the Ultimate Fashionista (who, by the way, died at the claws of Monokuma when she protested against the killing game).

But who are they?  
Why, I've already mentioned their name. Perhaps the words 'white rabbit' will remind you. Yes. The mastermind, and my datemate is none other than Chihiro Fujisaki themselves.

Surprised? I was. It's not everyday that an adorable shut-in person like them takes over the world with machinery and scares everyone into hiding. It's carnage. It turns out that Chihiro was the leader of Ultimate Despair, along with one of their AI, Chiaki. As far as I can tell, they don't always get along, despite Chiaki being Chihiro's creation. That's probably because Chiaki only strategises as if she were playing an RPG game. She was programmed to be the Ultimate Gamer after all.

"You seem deep in thought. I hope you aren't planning something." A flash of pink and speak of the devil. It's Chiaki.  
"Well? You're acting suspicious. Maybe I'll tell Chihiro. It would be such a betrayal... So despairing for them!"  
"I wasn't planning anything! There's nothing to do when you're bound up with rope as thick as chains. It's not like I can burn the rope or anything!"  
Chiaki grinned. "Oh sure~ I forgot about that. I suppose you aren't really the next great escapist huh. Well, speaking of big brother, they want to see you."  
"I'm bound to a chair."  
"I'm strong enough to move both you and the chair over to Chihiro."  
"Fine."

With very little trouble, Chiaki soon lifted the chair off the floor, and then almost teleported to Chihiro. Chiaki was fast as hell.  
"Big brother~! I've brought Kuwata for you! I'll leave you two to it! Have fun!" Chiaki promptly left, as Chihiro stepped through the door. The slight frown on their face quickly vanished into a cunning smile. What would they have planned.

"Hey there Leon! Good to see you haven't tried to escape yet. It would be so despairing if you had~"  
"As I told Chiaki, I cannot cut, burn or do anything to this thick coil of rope that I'm starting to feel will not be coming off until my body goes limp and dies."  
Chihiro giggled. It was strange to hear them laugh so light-heartedly after all they had done.  
"And what a shame it would be if I found you dead without having the chance to play with you a bit~! How despairing would that be..."

At the rate we're going, I'm going to die of boredom - I can see why broadcasting all the hope of the world murdering each other would have an effect on the survivors of this. You quickly get bored when everyone is doing nothing but chatting, but once the mystery and murder starts up, it's full of despairing excitement, causing the watcher despair and hopelessness.

"Well anyway, I mainly brought you here because- hm?" Chihiro's speech was cut off as a beep came from the other room.  
They walked into the other room, leaving the door wide open and allowing Leon to see the room itself. Yet there wasn't much to see. The only object in the room was a ladder, which seemed to lead past a trapdoor into the room that made the beeping. Chihiro quickly disappeared up the ladder at the same speed Monokuma could appear in different rooms, and Chiaki quickly stepped inside the door to keep an eye on me.

It's like they really think the idea of me escaping is plausible - I don't think I'd survive being crushed by the mechanical strength of Chiaki if I did escape the bonds of this chair in all honesty. Plus, even if I were to escape the chair, I'd collapse almost instantly from the fractured bones I received from my "execution," although as time passes I've been feeling much better admittedly.

Chihiro quickly re-appeared, seeming much happier than before.  
"I do apologise Leon, but I sense something brewing in the murder land~ I can't exactly miss a single detail, so we'll have to play later. I'm sure Chiaki can entertain you until then!" They informed cheerily, twirling on one tiptoe similar to how Monokuma dances when it's being sarcastic.  
"Have fun~!" Chihiro left a peck on Leon's cheek before shutting the door to the room they had been controlling Monokuma from.

"Well, Kuwata, I suppose that's that then!" Chiaki had reappeared in the room.  
"I guess I'll have to bring you back to your room! Plus, I was given further instructions to do with you as well!" She giggled, picking up the chair which I was still strapped to without warning. I hadn't had the chance to speak at all, so at once I began to worry. 'Further instructions?' This was certainly new and likely, not good.

The chair hit the floor with a crack as Chiaki's mechanical strength forced it to the floor.  
"So what first." I ask, a monotone tone in my voice.  
"Don't sound so hopeful Kuwata, you might jinx everything! Upupupu~" Chiaki laughed, with a smile on her face that told me she knew more about what would happen than she let on.  
"I would first like to let you know that these doors should now be bolted. Only Chihiro can open these! That means I'm stuck in here with you!"  
Oh no.  
"Lastly, I hope you have a very despairful time!" She ended by cutting the ropes binding me to the chair, before inviting me to stand up.  
After so long without the use of my limbs - around a month perhaps - the prospect of standing seemed impossible, yet with my new freedom, I tenderly lifted my left leg and placed it in front of me. It didn't hurt too much. I got cocky, trying to rely on my arms to hold my weight and push me up and off the chair. I ended up collapsing back into the chair in pain. The wounds hadn't fully healed yet.  
"This is absolutely pathetic - where's your despairing spirit, all star?" Chiaki yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Just get up, you bore. It's not that hard to put one foot in front of the other!"  
Aggravated by the comment, I tried again, this time falling forwards, ending with my face on the floor and my ass in the air like some sort of kinky whore.  
"Save that for big brother later, Kuwata, and focus on standing on your own two feet." Chiaki teased. This would get annoying extremely quickly, but after much pain and endurance, I could stand up, but all of my instincts told me that if I didn't sit down again soon, the dust on the floor would meet me once again.  
Chiaki began to clap, the movement smooth as if she were human, yet also a clear reminder of the metal skeleton which held her up. "Congratulations Leon! You just beat the first tutorial stage! Keep it up and you might just be able to fight a dragon!" More grating laughter, followed by an unnecessary short burst of a stock cheering sound effect.  
"Now let's try walking. Use your legs to move around, dummy! Left leg, right leg, repeat. Maybe use your arms to keep your balance."  
Walking was easier than standing up from a sitting position.  
"Wonderful! You might just earn a skill point to spend on upgrades at this rate!"  
Upgrades? Chiaki was becoming more cryptic by the second.  
"I don't want to discourage you entirely, but take a walk around! All we really need to do is wait for your datemate now~"  
Time passed quickly while pacing, and I soon felt more in control of my legs and feet. They hurt less, leading me to the conclusion that most of the pain came from sitting almost immobile for a month.  
After a while, Chiaki began to look bored. It wasn't like I was doing something particularly entertaining considering I was walking around and trying not to fall over. As if Chiaki had called them though, Chihiro soon strolled through the door, grinning.  
"Leooon~ I'm back! Sorry for the distraction, but it turns out that there was no murder plot at all! Just Kirigiri trying to snoop around the school. She won't pick up on our trail though~ but how despairing would it be if they did~! One last 'Tell them Naegi' to reveal it was me behind the bear all along~" Chihiro ranted, drool seeming to drip from their mouth.  
"Surely it would be the most despairing outcome, big brother~ the thought of you, innocent little Fujisaki causing this homicide!" Chiaki added, suppressing a slight squeal.  
"But anyway, before we even consider that outcome, I still need to finish up with you Leon!~ Chiaki, I saw that the little test went well?" Chihiro's tone grew serious, and they clutched a clipboard with lots of paper in their hands.  
"It was just a little bit TOO hopeful, I just wanted to abandon him in that outside world and let him feel a bit of despair. Such a wasted opportunity to teach the uneducated an important life lesson~" Chiaki complained, her vivid pink eyes seemingly flashing, perhaps in despair.

"Well, I suppose I'm about to fix that!" Chihiro threw away the clipboard and grinned, clutching one of his many Monokuma plushies.  
"What do you mean, fix? I don't need fixing!" I interrupted, attempting to back away from the two despair freaks.  
"Don't even try to run Leon~ I'm only going to return you to the Leon that I know and remember, and by that point you will too~!"  
Chihiro cheered. Terror - no, definitely despair - filled me as I thought desperately how I could escape the room, but I knew this room too well to know that there was no escape, only despair, or the bone crushing grip of Chiaki.

At that point I had been dragged out of the room, feebly struggling with my newfound ability to use my limbs. I could practically feel despair seeping into my skin, into my blood, strangling and sucking the life out of my heart. I was practically a dead man. Chihiro suddenly spoke up. "You know, I can't wait to restore you to the Leon I adore~ Maybe I should wait another trial, wait for the despair to sink into the both of us! But I have the feeling that I'm going to be very busy after that."  
"B-Busy with what?" I choked out in fear.  
"Aww Leon, are you already getting choked up about everything? You're still so cute~! I'm afraid I don't know what exactly will happen, but I just know the experience will be extremely despairing for the remaining students, us, and our viewers! I can't wait!" Chihiro seemed to get choked up themselves.  
"Isn't suspense it's own kind of despair? Unresolved cliff-hangers are always guaranteed to get people theorising, attached to their little treasure which may be considered by others as just junk! The thought of my despairing show being thought about like that just brings little despairing tears to my little despairing eyes~! It's all to do with the brain you know. Someone I knew that is now long dead told me that the brain hates to be unresolved. That's why suspense keeps people watching. Even episode titles can cause the brain to want to find out what happens. Psychology is despairingly large, and despairingly... well despairing! I know that right now, you're just dying to know where this is leading right? Well what's more despairing than to drag the suspense on longer and introduce you to somebody you haven't seen in, well about a week!"  
Holy fucking shit Chihiro that is the most I've heard you say about anything.  
"Somebody?"  
"Yep!"  
We came to a door, and they knocked violently at it, the slid across a small window feature that I could vaguely remember on the cells in prison shows. Chiaki pushed me closer to the door, forcing me to look inside the cell.

It was Mondo. Stuck in a room, with nothing to entertain him but monitors. Unlike me, he could walk around easily, but then he wasn't pummelled half to death by baseballs. His face was turned away from the door, as if unable to come to terms with Chihiro, the mastermind. The smaller knocked loudly on the door again, and I could see the pain and despair in his face as he turned to the door. He saw me, his face turned pale, and he froze, as if seeing either a ghost or something much worse. Then by an unspoken command, Chiaki dragged me away from the door.  
"Thanks for your help Leon~! That furry needed more despair in his situation. Apparently burning his secret stash of tiger plushies doesn't do much to stoke the flames of despair." Chihiro cheerfully said.  
"What was wrong with him? Why was he staring at me like that?" I questioned, my tone becoming panicky.  
"Oh, nothing was wrong with him~! I suppose our faces just inspire despair!" Chihiro enthusiastically answered.

Soon I was stuck in another room, strapped to another chair, guarded by Chiaki, yet this time no monitor could be found, replaced by a large contraption, unidentifiable in the dark. Chihiro stood near it, their face lit up just enough to see the grin that they held on their face.  
"You probably don't remember this machine, but this is the thing responsible for returning all of your long lost memories! It didn't fully work last time, and my trusty friends had to acquire more power for it before I could restore all of your memories, but I believe everything turned out for the best, most despairing way in the end, don't you think~!" Not particularly - what memories? All that I have right now is enough to suggest that I have all my memories!  
"Now all I need to do is give you the rest of your memories back! But for that to happen, one small thing has yet to be taken care of. Chiaki! Don't hurt him to badly this time, alright!" Chihiro cooed.  
Then everything went black as Chiaki knocked me out.


	2. Reboot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon wakes up, and realises everything. Also, I tortured Mondo with an electric shock collar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why I even included Mondo in the fic in the first place??? He's just kinda... there. And I don't really want to edit it out, so I'm keeping it :/  
> Please tell me if it is unnecessary 0-0'''  
> There is what I consider to be 'important' stuff in this chapter, so you'all want to read it. The Mondo thing is all in one paragraph, so you should be able to skip it if you want.

I woke up. Despite the entire process of being knocked out, I feel great. A bruise isn't as bad as something life-ending, such as having my neck snapped. Despite being weak on my legs before the process, now I feel like I can hit all 1000 of those baseballs, or run through the chaos on the streets. So I get up. The bed I was laying on was comfortable, and looking around, I recognised every single stretch of the room. I was in my old room from before the killing game - the one upstairs, away from cameras and monitors, murders, hope and despair. It felt nice. Nostalgic. I could remember more pleasant times with Chihiro, with their smile so sweet. I would have to apologise to them about the way I treated them earlier.  
I open the cupboard to find, not only my old clothes, but new ones, freshly prepared and washed by Chihiro. My current clothes were old, and I suspected I smelt disgusting, so I had a shower, finally, and changed into my new, black, white and red clothes - a theme shared by Chihiro, Chiaki and, of course, Monokuma. I really have been ungrateful to my datemate  recently. I hope they forgive me.

Mind you, despair would be so much better.

"Leon! You're back"! Chihiro appears from seemingly nowhere and leaps into my arms, clutching onto me.  
"Of course I am. I couldn't stay away from you for too long, but how despairing would it be if I had?"  
I kissed them, square on the lips, and they kissed back. We hadn't had a tender kiss like this in months, so when I moved away, only the knowledge of what needed to be done kept us apart.  
"Kirigiri's snooping around here. We need to get out, or our entire plan could be ruined! How despairing would that be?" Chihiro wept dramatically, before letting go of me and crawling underneath the bed. They left the area underneath the bed as quickly as they entered, and a door appeared from the wall. It was questionable how they had installed this without the knowledge of the headmaster, but it was convenient. Chihiro quickly headed down the steps, but before I left, I looked behind me, as if expecting to see the all too familiar violet eyes at the door, but was satisfied to find nobody there. The door shut behind me.  
"Whether it brings despair or not, you've been asleep for around a week, which is just enough time for Ogami to commit suicide and for my rouge AI to be executed! I should have gotten rid of Alter Ego long ago when it began to show signs of hope, but despair can only grow from the seeds of hope, can't it.~ Still, it's a despairing shame that I couldn't just rewrite some of it's code, but that's not entirely how it's AI worked really~!" Chihiro seemed extremely cheerful.  
"Anyway, I've got to get rid of our good detective Kirigiri over there, which means good old fashioned murder! Although I suppose it's 'in fashion' right now!" Chihiro laughed.  
"Since you just woke up, you might not be able to carry out my meticulous plan, but rather than flat out murder Kirigiri, I plan to murder poor, unsuspecting Naegi! He recently came over with a strange fever that makes him look like Togami just flirted with him~ Speaking of four eyes, imagine the despair when he finds his crush dead! He can't keep denying his sexuality forever, and tomorrow's the day he cracks like an egg~! By murdering Naegi, I can pin the crime on Kirigiri - she did recently acquire a master key from the headmaster's office, so it's much easier to pin the crime on her now! I just can't wait for the despair to hit, Leon!" Chihiro squealed happily, a blush rising on their cheeks.  
"Since it's you, I'm sure everything will go to plan. I trust I'll be sitting with Chiaki with the cameras?" I asked.  
"Well, you see I had plans for you to toy with our boy Mondo over there. I've spent so much time visiting you, I kept the furry locked up in his cage like an unfed tiger!" Chihiro chuckled.  
"Just taunt him by doing something like, look through his computer files. I have his computer right here - I'm sure the furry has more secret Tony the Tiger porn somewhere if you're willing to look."  
"I'm sure that won't be necessary."  
"Alright! Have fun Leon~" Chihiro jumped up, leaving a small kiss on my forehead before heading off to get their hands dirty. I didn't know what I would do with Mondo, but I wouldn't be going through his computer - he wouldn't go through mine, I think.

Walking up to his door, I peep inside, checking on him. He wasn't dead yet, but nor was he despairing enough either. I had brought an electric shock collar for him, along with food and water, since at the rate he was going, he would fade away.  
Once again his face turned white as I walked in, and the fearsome Mondo Oowada I once knew was hidden underneath a mask of fear. Despair. I locked the door, and put the food in a corner, relying on him to go over to it. He did, and as his back was turned, I put the collar on his neck. He turned around to retaliate, but I quickly stopped him at the press of a button. Almost instantly, Mondo collapsed and began to tug at the collar on his neck. But I had locked it on, and in his struggle he was simply giving himself more shocks.  
"What... is this t-thing...?" Mondo choked out, still tearing at the edges in a futile attempt to remove it.  
"A simple collar, should you refrain from trying to take it off or disobey orders" I smirked. This was going to be fun.  
"Now Mondo. You'd better sit like a good boy before I punish you."  
Instinctively, Mondo sat cross-legged, but by now I expected he knew the gag. I zapped him.  
"Incorrect sitting position. I'm sure someone like you should know the correct position quite well." I scolded.  
This time, he sat in a position clearly uncomfortable to him, but perfect in shape.  
"Correct. Still, it did take you a while." I mocked.  
He growled. He bared his teeth.  
I zapped him for his threatening behaviour.  
He whimpered. He gave in.  
I repeated this.

By the time I left, it was much later, and I returned to the camera room to find a very tired, despairing Chihiro.  
"How did the murder plan go?"  
"Despairingly awful. Kirigiri saw me trying to stab Naegi, albeit disguised under a cloak and mask, and I had to create an entirely new murder scene in the garden! With Junko's corpse of all things, and a bomb from one of the Monokumas. I made it look like Kirigiri had murdered me, or Junko, and Naegi could testify it. Of course, Togami will end up siding with his crush and Fukawa won't say no to that. Kirigiri's as good as dead by tomorrow. I despairingly hope." Chihiro shivered, then yawned, their eyes drowsy. They hadn't gotten sleep in weeks.  
"I could watch the cameras and handle Monokuma?"  
"N-No, don't. You don't know how to. Anyway, Chiaki usually mans the controls when I'm not there. I guess we can just try to sleep tonight." Chihiro brushed off my offer, then yawned and got up to leave dragging me with them.

They took me to another dorm which likely belonged to one of the students in the class above ours. The Ultimate Despairs that is. I was surprised to not see them at all when I finally came to my senses. I'd thought that they were working behind the scenes at the school, but perhaps not.  
"I call the bed!" Chihiro jumped on the bed enthusiastically, burying themselves in the covers. Even the mastermind of a mass murder killing game could act like a child sometimes.  
I laid on the floor, partially because I could now remember how Chihiro moved in their sleep. I had once woken up because of a lack of air after they began to sleep-strangle me. It wasn't too cold - it was weirdly just the right temperature to lay on comfortably. In the background, I could hear Chihiro's dainty snores as they slept deeply, probably about their plan, maybe even about the despair of it failing. What a thought. I began to shut my eyes and block out the rest of the world.

I woke up to find Chihiro gone with just a simple note.

'Checking on Chiaki - meet me in the camera room when you wake up!' It read, along with a little doodle of Monokuma laughing.  
Creakily, I got up, trying to ignore the dull ache in my bones left to compensate for sleeping on the dusty floor for however long I had been out for.  
I yawned. My first full day in a while of pure, undiluted despair awaited, with a pure, despair filled datemate. After leaving the room, I sleepily navigated the corridors, hoping I was going in the right direction.

It took a while, but eventually I found my way to the long ladder leading up to the camera room, then climbed up it to find myself in the control area for Monokuma. With the help of Soda, I remembered that they had built everything themselves, fuelled by despair. Through the speakers I thought I could hear dull, uninteresting chatter from the students, until something Naegi said caught my ear.  
"I haven't seen Kirigiri since yesterday, and it's not like her to take this long getting to breakfast..."  
So the detective girl still hadn't stopped her full investigation, despite saving Naegi from being stabbed.  
"Who cares about that - Monokuma is sitting on the floor, unmoving, which means something's happened to the mastermind. We should use this oppotunity wisely." The cold, commanding voice of Togami replied. "We could break into one of the locked rooms without getting caught."  
"W-Well I suppose..."  
"We should break into the headmaster's office! After all, Sakura did break the door slightly, so it should be weaker!" Asahina's confident voice loudly resonated.  
"I think Monokuma might have fixed that Asahina. After all, I'm sure he mentioned it already, since something was stolen from the room." Naegi dejectedly objected.  
"Well lets go. We shouldn't be wasting any more time on this."  
Togami ordered, leaving the gym and having Naegi follow him, prompting the others to do so.  
"Well just think of the despair on Naegi's face when I execute his boyfriend for breaking down the headmaster's office door again! Upupupupu~!" Chihiro spoke up, a grin alighting their face. "They'll discover the corpse soon, and once they find all the evidence, Kirigiri's as good as dead! They'll all fall into despair then - perhaps even Togami! I just can't wait!" They clapped cheerfully, then suddenly grew silent as the students began to talk again. They had arrived at the headmaster's office.  
"We're going to need something to break the door down." Togami thought aloud.  
"Well, in the shed in the garden there was a pickaxe. Maybe we could use that!" Naegi answered.  
"Yes... that would do the job. Fukawa, what's the time right now?" Togami leered.  
"I-It was around 9 o'clock when we left the gym..." She stuttered.  
"Then I want you to go to the shed and get that pickaxe by 9:01, understand."  
"But-"  
"You're wasting time."  
Fukawa, appearing slightly defeated, quickly ran off towards the garden.  
"What should we look for when we do get into the headmaster's office?" Naegi timidly asked the heir.  
"Obviously anything to do with the identity of the mastermind of course"  
"O-Oh"

Their conversation was cut off by manic laughter as Genocider charged down the hall.  
"White Kniiight~!"  
Togami scoffed. "What are you doing here without that pickaxe?"  
"You know I don't share memories with gloomy guts! I don't know what she was in the middle of, but I woke up to see a body in front of me~"  
"A b-body?" Naegi's face went pale, and his knuckles tensed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone is interested, I'm probably going to update this once a week until I realise that I have nothing else to post because I can be a slow writer :/  
> I hope you enjoyed it! Please tell me how I can improve!


	3. Boolean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A body has been discovered!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't mentioned this, but I wanted to point out that I'm trying to stick to the main danganronpa canon, with edits such as the fact that Chihiro is the mastermind and I kept Mondo alive, etc.  
> Therefore, I'll skip any parts which don't affect anything (such as the trial in this chapter)  
> Sorry if it feels rushed because of this!

"Oh poor Naegi, forever destined to be hopelessly naive~" Chihiro sighed, playing with their hair. "I can't wait to make it worse when he realises his boyfriend was seconds away from joining that corpse after Monokuma makes his gracious return! I even took the time to make the body blow up like some sort of bad Hollywood production! Chiaki's just getting rid of the bomb they found in that disassembled Monokuma. They'll never know~!"  
An explosion could be heard through the speakers, and looking up, I noticed that they had run to the garden, and that Genocider had caused the explosion, and that the corpse had been set on fire because of it. Naegi was scurrying away to find a bucket of water to stop the flames from spreading. Likely because of his luck, he managed to stop the fire before it consumed too much of the body or the garden or even one of the other students.  
"We're all lucky it was Fukawa who removed that mask and not any of us." Togami stated.  
"I-It shouldn't have happened at all!" Naegi protested.  
Asahina simply looked shocked.  
Suddenly, Fukawa returned looking stressed. "I-I'm sorry I couldn't get the pickaxe in time m-master."  
"We have worse problems to worry about and currently it's all your fault." Togami scolded angrily.  
Fukawa visibly flinched, then walked away, upset.  
Naegi, after a quick inspection of the corpse, spoke up.  
"There's a weird key in their hand!" He pulled it out of their grip.  
"Well it must open one of the locked rooms - off you go. We'll keep investigating here." Togami ordered, before observing the crime scene once again.

"I did decide to take a little teensy risk however: I left a key to the room out there - the data room - inside the hand of the corpse! I'm sure they'll love the news that they're being watched by all the survivors of the world! You know, even their relatives are being forced to watch this! I can't wait to feel the waves of despair that will ooze out of them once they find out!"  
I heard a clunk from the other room, like the sound of a key being turned, then the excited pattering of feet as someone - probably Naegi - ran off, and he reappeared on the cameras to inform the rest of the students.  
"Soon I'll have to concentrate once again as I, the headmaster, makes their dashing re-appearance!" They laughed, before drawing silent as they heard the student chatter both through the camera and the door.  
"Naegi. You go first. You're the most expendable. There could be a bomb or some other trap in there to stop us from getting in."  
"A-Alright, fine."  
The door opened, and after a few seconds, once the other students had realised there were no traps, I thought I could hear gasps, and could imagine the others looking round the room with awe (excluding Togami) ready to investigate the room like another murder.  
"There's a TV in here!"  
"Great! Plug it in, we need to know what's going on outside!"  
"Don't worry! I've had to do this before!"  
There was a slight hum, likely before the screen showed them what was being broadcast all over the world, then sounds of confusion and their voices echoing.  
"It's just another camera feed!"  
"Change the channel!"  
"I have! Multiple times! It's on every channel!"  
"M-Maybe you just set it up wrong y-you dumb palm tree!"  
"Everybody just calm down! It can't be real!"

"Showtime." Chihiro giggled, before loudly.  
"Nope! It is indeed real!"  
Shrieks could be heard as Monokuma appeared in front of them.  
"But, if it's on the TV, on every channel, does that mean...?"  
"Yep! This is being broadcast live on TV, all around the world! Upupupu!"  
"But you can't take over every single television network - that's impossible!"  
"Or is it? Nope! It's about as true as my fur is soft - extremely! These cameras have not only served as a way for me to keep up to date with your shenanigans, but also as a way for me to broadcast despair to our worldwide viewers!"  
"Wait, you're saying everything we've done is broadcast live?"  
"Trust me four eyes, I kept you and Naegi's kinky nights alone out of the broadcast - gotta keep it SFW for the kiddos to keep the ratings high~! Anyway, the viewers are probably getting bored by now. Let's get this investigation barrel rolling like Star Fox! Here are your Monokuma Files for this murder! I hope you kids are ready for another class trial!"  
Monokuma's laughter filled the room.  
"Oh, by the way, I saw that entire conversation about breaking down the door to my room! Togami, you could've had a few extra holes added~ I bet you're counting your lucky stars that you're not dead huh~? Well that's too bad because you only have one!"  
Monokuma laughed, as if he had made the best joke in the world, before leaving the students to get on with the investigation, and Naegi staring in shock for a few despairing seconds.  
"Operation, Despair Revelation complete! Upupupupu~! I just can't wait for this~"  
Chihiro seemed happy, happy that their plan had, so far, gone flawlessly, but I doubted that they would have made a despairless plan for themselves too.

~~~Trial: Near End~~~

It had been around an hour or two since the beginning of the students investigation, and the class trial was tense. After the students had left, Chiaki snuck back in with the diffused Monokuma bomb, and locked the door behind them with their spare key.  
I could tell the trial was close to ending, partially because of Chihiro's bored look and partially because they were almost set on blaming Kirigiri. Everything was going to plan.  
"I gave my key to Togami, remember? Naegi can confirm it. There was no possible way for me to get into my room and leave the key there." Kirigiri stated the fact calmly, but there was no mistaking the fear and despair in her eyes as she spoke.  
"Hmph. I suppose that's true. Naegi, do you have any objections?"  
Naegi appeared to be daydreaming, unresponsive. Must have been vivid before his boyfriend snapped him back to reality.  
"Stop daydreaming and focus. Do you have any objections?" Togami was getting impatient.  
"H-Huh? N-No I don't have any objections."  
Bad. Very bad. Chihiro had been staking their chances on Naegi revealing the Monokuma skeleton key which Kirigiri had stolen, and I could see them clench their jaw, and their hands curling into fists.  
"Well then... I suppose there's only one other option." Togami seemed to choke out the words.  
"N-Naegi snuck the key into her room while we were investigating... to pin the crime on her and escape."  
"Wh-what! No! I'd never do that!" Naegi' eyes went wide with fear, along with despair that his tall boyfriend would accuse him of trying to escape without him.  
"We have no evidence of anything else being a possibility, but there must be more evidence..." Kirigiri stated, before she was interrupted by the shrill voice of Monokuma.  
"And tiiiiiime's up! Boy, this was a long trial - I hope the viewers weren't getting bored! Upupupupu~"  
Kirigiri's face went pale. "We've never had a time limit before! Why this time?"  
"Well maybe because someone arrived late this time! As a penalty, I took some time off the trial~ Now onto the main event! Push the button for the student you think killed this trial's victim! Upupupu!"

Only one person voted against Kirigiri.

"Coooongratulations! You got the correct culprit! Makoto Naegi was the murderer of this case~! Such a change of heart after all those 'we can't murder each other' speeches! Reminds me of good ol' Celestia! Upupupupu~! Also, next time, Togami, you should have learned from the stuck up hall monitor - your vote could be the difference between life or death! You could have killed everyone!" Monokuma's dreadful laugh filled the room as the students began to talk among each other.  
"Well Naegs, I suppose you really are the culprit."  
"Who knew someone like you could do something like that?"  
"I-I knew you were j-just a filthy l-l-l-liar!"  
Kirigiri's face had gone white, and Togami had been rendered unresponsive, similar to Ishimaru's reaction to Mondo's 'execution'.  
"Let's get into the exciting part of the trial! I hope you're all excited! Iiiiiits punishment time~! Upupupupu!"

Chihiro looked at me and sighed. "It's certainly despairing that Kirigiri isn't the one being executed..."  
CRASH  
"But I suppose Naegi's just as good! Nearly..."  
CRASH  
"I mean did you see Togami! He looked worse than the Hall Monitor when he lost his tiger~..."  
CRASH  
"But nothing cheers me up better than a good execution! Upupupu."  
Screech...?  
Chihiro looked back towards the execution screen. A green glow began to illuminate the room, and their voice rang through my ears, the thump of their fists hitting the table clear.  
"ALTER EGO IS STILL ALIVE? I THOUGHT I'D KILLED IT!"  
Naegi fell harmless past the crushing execution, into the dump.  
Alter Ego disappeared.  
Despair was left oozing through the room's atmosphere, and Chihiro looked to be having the most despairing time of their lives.

"N-Naegi survived…?" Togami croaked.  
Hope once more lit up the heir's face, briefly, before Chihiro began to speak into the mic once more, having calmed slightly from their rage.  
"Well, it's too bad the execution didn't work, but now he suffers a much more despairing fate, don't you think? Now he gets the chance to die down there alone from the lack of hydration! I just wish I could watch it, but unfortunately that's one of the few places I didn't install cameras."  
Togami reverted back to his vegetable state.  
"That trial was unfair. Rigged you might say." Kirigiri argued.  
"Oh yeah? Well whatever. Unfortunately for you guys, I don't have any other places for you to explore, so instead we're going to have a little class vote on something I can give to you, from films, multiplayer (but not online) games, maybe even murder weapons! How exciting would it be to be murdered with a chainsaw, huh~! You might want to think it over tonight, because by 12 tomorrow you'd all better come to the gym for a little voting session! That or face punishment! Upupupu~ I feel like the class representative! But then I wasn't forced into a murder dungeon~!"  
"W-What?" Kirigiri enquired, colour slowly returning to her face as she returned to her cool and collected shell.  
"Ooops I went a bit overboard didn't I? A bit like Naegi just went over the edge of that conveyor belt~"  
"You mentioned a murder dungeon. Answer my question: what do you mean by that?"  
"I'm keeping my mouth zipped! No more information on that topic for you~!"  
"You said in the rules that there are no limitations to our investigation of the school apart from other rules such as the door and night time rule."  
"Fine... well you see," Monokuma made the motion of zipping his mouth shut. "mphphthphthphthphthphthphth. And that's the entire story~!" He finished, making an unzipping motion.  
"You purposefully hid your voice."  
"I told you the whole thing! You just weren't listening properly. Anyway, enough of this! It's bedtime! A few hours of investigation and a few hours of class trial doesn't do you any favours in stamina and energy! See you in the morning students~"  
"Wait."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm trying to keep a schedule of one chapter each Tuesday until I run out of chapters to post, in case anyone was wondering!  
> Please give me a bit of feedback - I get really nervous about posting things and it would be nice to know that I can improve.
> 
> Also, sorry for cutting it off short right there! It just felt right at the time.


	4. Variable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gay reunions and a lot of Chiaki exposition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAA I nearly forgot to upload! This chapter mainly just has a lot of Chiaki exposition and me awkwardly trying to imply naegami and asagiri (kirihina? Idk)

Chihiro turned to me after causing Monokuma to disappear from the sights of the students.  
"As annoyed as I am at Naegi and Alter Ego, both their actions have lead to a whole new path of despair! If Naegi finds a way back, maybe I'll just crush their hope by killing him properly~!" Chihiro grinned as if nothing had gone wrong, yet as if their plan was just beginning once more.  
"I can't wait. You always think of something better than before~" I complemented the small mastermind  
"Now~ I think I should prepare a special treat~ nothing much will happen until morning - not after all that~! Chiaki! Do you think you could watch the cameras for a while~ Thank's pal~!"  
"So... what's this 'treat'?"  
"So many questions from so many people~! Be patient Leon - despairing things come to those who wait! But I'll let you indulge in the knowledge that you'll enjoy yourself~"  
"I suppose that's understandable. It's always so despairing to have a surprise ruined by the one person with no respect for others."  
"I still need to prepare slightly though~ you can tease Tony the Tiger or you can talk to Chiaki if you want~"  
With that, Chihiro disappeared, leaving me surrounded by the cameras. Chiaki was watching the cameras almost intently, and I saw her gaze drift across all of the remaining survivors, of which were all in their rooms. The most notable being Togami, who seemed to be shedding the only tear he ever could shed, and Kirigiri, who seemed suspiciously busy. I noted that it must be boring, watching these cameras for 24 hours a day for days on end.  
"Kuwata-kun levelled up! Intuition increased by 5, strength approximately increased by one." Chiaki yawned, resting her head on a desk in front of her, the natural reaction becoming more unnatural as I was reminded that she was artificial in all ways.  
"You know, I do have a soul - I'm not completely metallic. Which makes scenarios such as this all the worse." Chiaki said, boredom in her voice.  
"You might not remember it, but big brother once said that 'if someone were to pour their soul into an AI, it would be a true AI, unlike the AI commonly found in computers executing instructions.' I suppose their first test of that was Alter Ego, in which they poured themselves into their work. Clearly only the hopeful side of it - there's nothing 'hopeful' about them now."  
Chiaki continued, tapping the table.  
"Then I was the second test. Except that I was the soul of another. I suppose from your perspective, that would be the 'true Chiaki Nanami'. Her soul was forced out of her into me, so to speak."  
"What do you mean?" I asked, intrigued by her story.  
"Well the 'real Chiaki Nanami' was the first to be executed - before you or the headmaster. I believe, from information I have, big brother was close friends with Nanami, but used that bond to their advantage."  
Chiaki answered.  
"Her class was needed for the Tragedy to occur - all of those robots didn't come from nowhere - so they tortured her teacher."  
"Miss Yukizome. I remember that. I did the torture part of it." I could recall the memory clearly now, I could remember hearing the footsteps of her class as they thundered into the courtroom constructed underneath the school in a united attempt to save their beloved teacher.  
"Well, rather than go off on a tangent about that whole thing, I'm going to skip to the point. Like how Alter Ego was created from Chihiro's hope, I was created from the despair of the real Chiaki Nanami during her finest hour - her execution~!"  
They let out a mechanical laugh, a similar sound to Monokuma.  
"But your point is, despite being made of pure despair, you still get bored?"  
"Congratulations! Level up! Plus 5 intuition, plus 1 in intelligence." Chiaki sarcastically sang, grinning as she did so.  
"Honestly, I'd like to take part in the killing sometime, even some of the action. The sight of despair in the eyes of those who trusted me would bring tears to my eyes~ but I suppose that sounds like a little too much hope to be healthy."  
"You've never taken part in anything? Not even the homicide of the Ultimate students before the tragedy?"  
"I just got to watch as the world burnt to the ground physically, politically and economically."  
Chiaki lamented.  
"So what are you two talking about~? I just came here to fetch Leon~" Chihiro span into the room from the Monokuma door.  
"Just the tragedy and the despair it inflicted upon the world. Nothing much else." Chiaki calmly informed Chihiro.  
"Aaaalrighty then, come on Leon~! Time for a bit of fun with the despairs~!" Chihiro laughed grabbing my arm and dragging me through the Monokuma door, without giving our conversation a second thought. As I looked back, I saw a sad look in Chiaki's eyes, as if she were despairing.

Chihiro pulled me through the hallways, a grin on their face and a sparkle in their eye, slightly jogging. My arm began to hurt, before suddenly Chihiro came to an abrupt stop in front of one of the doors to another dorm room. They lifted their other arm, knocked a few times, then waited. Soon, a reply few taps were sent and the door flung open, revealing a few of the despairs: Soda, Gundham, Sonia and Akane to name a few.  
Chihiro pushed me in, then shut the door behind themselves. They raised their voice.  
"Let the first despairing party commence!"

 

The party was extremely tiring, despite the lack of activity. Afterwards I just had to lie down and sleep - I just didn't have the energy. So I did. And when I woke up, I found Chihiro lying next to me, still snoozing. They looked precious and cute while asleep. A small reminder of why I fell for them in the first place. Rather than move, I just watched, waiting for the peaceful moment to end.  
And end it did. Chiaki burst into the room, caring nothing about the dozey scene in front of her, before stating, in a panicky tone. "Kirigiri's gone to get Naegi!"  
Chihiro shot up, rubbing sleep from their eyes.  
"Already?" They yawned. "I'll go deal with them. In the morning."  
"It is the morning! We'll need to play the morning announcement!"  
Chiaki protested.  
"If we muck up here, everything we've built up could be destroyed - our reputation as a rule following mastermind could be ruined!"  
"Don't be so melodramatic, it's just boring. Nothing you just said contained even an ounce of despair. Maybe I'll get up when you stop acting so weird." Chihiro didn't seem to care much about Chiaki's problem.  
"Well it would be utterly despairing if we lost respect from the remaining students: there are only technically 5 left after all - maybe they would decide not kill each other! That would lead to such a boring and despair-less life, don't you think?" Chiaki reasoned with a huff, somehow puffing her cheeks out, despite its impractically with her being a robot and all.  
"Fiiiine." Chihiro pouted, like a young child. "Sleepy time is over, Leon~ Get up you weenie." They reached over to poke me, but I got up before they could.  
"I heard your conversation. And to add to Chiaki's point, Naegi coming back would bring hope back to the rest of the students. We'd lose out on the chance to get Togami to actually kill someone for once." I yawned.  
"Alright fine, you've made your points and I'm getting up. Keep doing this and I might just have to call you Naegi or something." Chihiro swatted at me, before actually getting up, only to leave the mess of a bedroom behind. Then, with a muttered complaint, I soon followed.

"You know, maybe I should just let the rest of them free. This is despairing and all, but I think the killing game is starting to get a bit redundant." Chihiro thought out loud.  
"On the other hand, I suppose things are about to start heating up! Naegi coming back from the dead... At this point, I don't know whether to let him live or execute him again!"  
They stopped, and put their finger to their mouth.  
"What do you think, Leon? Chiaki?"  
I had nothing to say. Only Chiaki really knew what was going on.  
"I retrieved the both of you just after I noticed Kirigiri going to the trash room." Chiaki calmly replied.  
"Well, we'd better hope we haven't missed anything good, huh~" Chihiro grinned, then dashed off without waiting for Chiaki and I. They had probably begun to panic that they'd missed something important. Not that they couldn't rewind the camera footage anyway. Chiaki just sighed, and continued walking at the same pace as before. I saw no need to follow Chihiro quickly, so I did the same thing. When Chiaki and I finally caught up to Chihiro, they were panting, and watching the camera footage for Naegi and Kirigiri's reappearance. Watching the trash room got boring, but soon after playing the morning announcement, there was more entertainment from the cafeteria, as the tired, scared students of hope despairing dragged themselves to breakfast. Even Togami turned up, sitting at an entirely separate table to the others with a cup of tea (made for him by one of the others) which he let go cold. He was practically copying Ishimaru, and that was just no fun whatsoever.  
Their conversation was dull too.  
"So... what were you going to vote on?" Asahina started the conversation up. "I know that I was going to go for either a game or a film, but I don't know what the rest of you think."  
Silence, until Hagakure spoke up.  
"Well I mean, I was going to choose a film, but I bet anything we're given will just be used as another motive."  
Everything was just... monotone. As black and white as Monokuma's fur. There was no emotion in each spoken word, no despair, no hope, no sadness, no happiness.  
It was boring.  
Togami stared into his tea. Fukawa gazed around, as if slightly confused.  
"How many of us are left? Five? That's really... depressing honestly." Hagakure lamented after a few minutes of silence.  
Asahina's eyes opened in worry. "There's only four of us in this room! Where's Kirigiri?" They stood up in a frenzied panic.  
On another monitor, a certain detective and a very lucky person climbed out of the trapdoor in the furnace room.  
"Do you think Monokuma will try to execute me again if he finds out I'm here?" Naegi panicked.  
"He probably already knows you're here. I'm planning on challenging Monokuma to a final trial - a trial to unmask them - the mastermind." Kirigiri deflected his worry with her plans, bluntly. Naegi didn't look entirely comforted, but he looked better. Considering he had been sitting in piles of trash for an entire night.  
"A-Alright."  
"We should go to the cafeteria. They should be worrying about me by now. Especially Asahina."  
"Why especially Asahina?"  
"Ever since Alter Ego was executed, I'd taken it upon myself to visit her so she could confide in me. You probably didn't notice because you've been spending so much time with your boyfriend."  
"T-Togami and I are not dating!"  
"You look like you are."  
Without another word, Kirigiri began to walk off. Naegi followed. They walked into the cafeteria, just as Asahina yelled at Hagakure for believing nothing was wrong.

As the door swung open, the room fell silent, apart from the rapid pounding of feet against the floor as Naegi rushed towards Togami, who looked up from his coffee to have the colour return to his face, along with a smile. Definitely not dating.  
On the other hand, Asahina rushed towards Kirigiri and began asking her what took so long, oblivious to Naegi and Togami. Asahina looked like she was on the brink of tears as she unexpectedly hugged Kirigiri. Kirigiri had to gesture towards Naegi before anyone really realised what had happened - that Naegi had returned and wasn't going to get into another near death situation anytime soon.  
"Oh my god... Naegs you actually survived that? I thought I was just imagining things!"  
"O-O-Of course you weren't imagining things, i-idiot, we all saw A-Alter Ego save him. I bet he took a-advantage of the time he spent down there - more p-privacy than any of us will ever g-get."  
"What?"  
"You know e-exactly what I mean."  
"I'm just glad you're back."  
Togami breathed quietly.  
The scene was so normal. So unexciting, so uninspired, so plain that it almost fit Naegi's return.  
Chihiro didn't move. They wanted to hear this conversation.  
"We're going to challenge the mastermind in a final trial." Kirigiri bluntly added.  
"What! You're kidding." Asahina protested. "What if Monokuma tries to kill Naegi?"  
"Monokuma has cameras - he should already know that Naegi is here."  
"He's not taking Naegi again. It's not possible for him to have killed Ikusaba!" Togami spoke up, anger tinting his voice.  
"That's my argument. If the mastermind really loves their fair rules as they say, then they should have no objections to doing the trial as I plan to propose. But I'd better bring Naegi along with me." Kirigiri assured, calmly.  
"I'll go with her and sort it out. If we succeed, we shouldn't need to worry about another murder ever again!" Naegi chirped, letting go of Togami and looking up at him with pleading puppy eyes.  
Togami's only weakness. After a few seconds of thought, he surrendered to his boyfriend. They're not dating at all. Nope.  
"Then it's settled. We'll call Monokuma in the gymnasium. Anything else?" Kirigiri stated, not expecting an answer.  
"Please be careful. Both of you." Asahina appeared to fight back tears.  
Kirigiri gave her a soft, reassuring smile. "We'll be fine. We'll both be back in a second."

"I'd better get to the controls ~ Can't talk to Kirigiri if I can't use Monokuma, can I~?" Chihiro smiled, before being obscured from view as they shut the door to the Monokuma Control Room.

I watched as Kirigiri and Naegi walked towards the gym. Looking at Kirigiri, I was sure I could see a bit of determination in her eyes - a hope to be crushed.  
"Monokuma. We would like to speak with you." Kirigiri calmly, but loudly announced once the two got to the gym.  
A voice rang out across the room.  
"See I would, but neither of you seem to have the decency to even refer to me politely! I am your headmaster after all!"  
"Fine," I could hear Kirigiri mutter to herself before once again raising her voice.  
"Mr Monokuma, Naegi and I would like to speak to you."  
"I suppose that's good enough for now." Monokuma had appeared behind the two of them, causing Naegi to visibly jump.  
"Upupupu~! It might not necessarily be despairing, but that sure as hell was amusing!" Monokuma spun.  
"I get my kicks out of small things sometimes. Anyway, you-" Monokuma angrily pointed at Naegi. "You should be dead, Mr Makoto Naegi. I think your headmaster is owed an explanation!"  
Monokuma's claws shone threateningly, but Kirigiri was unaffected.  
"I have a proposition to make."  
"So I've heard! What, do the cameras not exist or something! I always have eyes on those things~! Even right now!"  
"I want to do a re-do of the last class trial."  
"Only been, what, an hour and you already want Naegi dead? Are he and Togami just THAT blind to the obvious that you've given up on him? Upupupupu~"  
"No. I want to use the trial to uncover you - the mastermind. A trial to end all trials. After all - we both know Naegi didn't commit murder. I have a lot of evidence that suggests that you truly did kill Mukuro Ikusaba this time."  
"Well I mean- hmm." Monokuma thought to himself, or at least acted like it.  
"Before I accept your terms, I'd like a brief run through. After all, I don't want to be blamed for something you didn't clarify~"  
"I want a final class trial. A trial in which if we identify you correctly, you lose, and the rest of us win. A trial in which if we are incorrect, we lose. Plus, to be fair, all locked room must be temporarily unlocked during the investigation period. I think it would be rather interesting, don't you think? Surely it would be entertaining for our viewers, if anything." Kirigiri smiled confidently.  
"Well I mean... I don't see anything unfair about it. But I do have one condition about the whole, locked door thing. Remember the camera room? Well, you'll only be able to enter that room once. If someone entered, investigated, and left, you would not be allowed back in - I would lock you out. Does that sound fair?"  
"Deal."  
"Alrighty then! I'll declare the beginning of this investigation period as soon as everyone meets in here! Just give me a second~"  
Monokuma disappeared, and on the monitors I could see Monokuma sitting with his martini in hand. The video was definitely pre-recorded - I could hear Chihiro giving it a voice-over from the camera room.

As the other students walked towards the gym, Chihiro walked back in, grinning maniacally.  
"This class trial is going to be great~! But I should probably prepare my will - that Kirigiri sure is sharp!"  
"It is worrying though... what will happen if we lose?" I spoke up, before realising exactly what they were going to say.  
"We'll - that's you and I, Leon - be executed as the masterminds! Of course if they lose, they're the ones that'll be executed." Chihiro smiled once more, this time a wide smile which reminded me of when I first met them. That Chihiro was so much different to the one in front of me.  
"Anyway, I'd better get back to Monokuma~! All the other students are in the hall right now!"  
Chihiro waved, before disappearing behind the door.  
Monokuma reappeared in the gym, in front of the few remaining students. Similar to Chihiro's expression as they left the room, Monokuma seemed to have a Cheshire Cat smile (although it was not like his design could help that) as he announced it.

"I'm sure you've all been dearly waiting for this moment, and I sure can't wait, but anyway. I, your headmaster, would like to announce the final chapter in your school life!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to leave you on a cliff hanger, but I haven't written much after this :/ That's also partially the reason this chapter is so short 0-0'''  
> Meaning there will probably be a long hiatus. Sorry! I'm very busy and when I'm not I have writers block :///


	5. Function

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final investigation begins! Chihiro and Leon find themselves busy with a certain tiger...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so long since I updated this  
> i have been very distracted with multiple games for the past few months as well as the chatfic so uh  
> Sorry?

"Is this another motive or something? It's been one day!" Someone yelled - I'm pretty sure it was Hagakure.  
"It's nice to hear someone liked my motives, but not this time! Survive this trial and you'll never have to kill again~!" Monokuma laughed.  
"This class trial won't be for the murderer, but rather, me~! If you guess who I am correctly, aaaand figure out the rest of the mysteries around this school, you'll be free to go, but fail and I might just execute all of you!" Monokuma chanted.  
S-So, you're saying... w-we could leave?" Fukawa stuttered suspiciously.  
"Of course~ but you'll have to use your brains to figure out every mystery~! Surely a task like that would be simple for you meddling kids~!"

"I'll find you."

"Huuuh~?"  
"I'll find you and get everyone in here out! I swear it on the Togami name!" Togami snarled.  
"You'd better get searching soon then~ I'm treating this like an investigation period, so you'll want to be quick and thorough." Monokuma giggled.  
"Well, you should all have the Monokuma files from the last case, so I'll leave you with one last thing! All the doors have been unlocked, all around the school! Even the one to my control room~! Although, I'd like to request that you don't go into the biology lab for a little while - I need to finish something up in there and none of you kids can go snooping in there until I'm done! I'll tell you when I'm done, and I won't end the investigation period until you've had ample time to investigate it~"  
Monokuma bowed.  
"That's all I have to say to you fucks! Have fun investigating~!" Monokuma descended back behind the podium, leaving the students talking among themselves, as Chihiro walked in, smiling.

"Now that that's over and done with, I'd better finish up~! We've got a certain furry to deal with~"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Weeeell if the others find out he's still alive, it would ruin everything! They might think there's three masterminds and then there would be no way of stopping them from knowing about Chiaki! I'm trying to keep her a secret~"  
"Why's that?" Chiaki asked, curious.  
"Well, I did have some plans to hold another killing game~ Just with the despairs. Not that I know how though! You'll have to find out how if this trial ends the way they hope it will~"

"How then?" I interrupted, before Chihiro was distracted from the task at hand.  
"Hm?"  
"How are we going to kill Mondo?"  
"Well I'm glad you asked! I asked Tanaka a little while ago to try to get hold of a tiger, since I've kiiinda been planing on killing him for weeks. Hosting a killing game is time consuming. Well, anyway! The tiger haaas been starving and I'm sure it would enjoy a little snack - namely Mondo~"  
"How the fuck are we going to lock Mondo and a tiger in the biology lab without any of the living students noticing?"  
"How does Monokuma pop out from under the floorboards without a sound or disturbing the floor? I have my ways Leon~"  
"Touché"  
"Anyway, we're going to have to do a lot of cleaning up before we let them in. Chiaki'll have to watch the cameras again~"  
I was sceptical, but I nodded in agreement. Chihiro looked satisfied.  
"Well, anyway, he's probably dead by now. I may have already trapped him in that room~ I was planning on killing him anyway. The only reason I kept him alive in the first place was for fun! Who's ready to clean up a mauled corpse?" They laughed, clapping their hands, then quickly turning to Chiaki.  
"You know what to do if you hear one of the students trying to come in, right Chiaki?"  
"Of course. I know that I'm quick enough to hide under the trapdoor." Chiaki confirmed.  
"Alright! Time to go, Leon~" Chihiro climbed into the trapdoor in the Monokuma control room, and I followed.  
"Isn't the biology lab on the top floor?" I checked. We had gone down, meaning the biology lab was 2 to 3 floors above us still.  
"Yep! But unless you want to get busted by our budding detectives, we have to go a slightly longer route. What do you think would happen if we stepped out in front of Naegi? From their perspective, we're both dead!"  
"I don't know, for fucks sake. But I forgot to ask - how did you survive getting hit by that dumbbell?"  
"Weeeell I suppose you could say that it wasn't me~ Just a robot with a simple AI that would make a convincing me, while keeping it from talking too much. I was controlling it slightly, though, which is why it followed Mondo. I'm pretty sure Mondo was slightly worried when he heard a clang, and Kirigiri probably found a metal plate in it's head with her autopsy. It was probably a bit stupid, but whatever~."  
"Well, I suppose that makes more sense than getting someone else to act like you. I doubt it would be very convincing."  
"Yeah~ I suppose it will make this more interesting!"  
"Yeah."

After a lot of walking and, eventually, ladder climbing, Chihiro and I made our way (presumably under the floorboards or something - they still haven't told me where we are) to the Biology Lab, where we were faced with a satisfied tiger and a massacred, devastated corpse. I knew who it was, but the corpse itself was barely recognisable as the Mondo Oowada that we used to know, if not for his hair.  
"I kinda forgot we had to get rid of the tiger~ ah well!" Chihiro nonchalantly spoke up. Yet, as they got out from... wherever we were, and crouched on the ground, I had the feeling that they hadn't forgotten, but they just wanted to mess around with the tiger for a bit.  
"Heeeere kitty kitty~" Chihiro called out, beckoning with his hands, as if it were abnormal cat and not a ferocious, hungry tiger. I was still questioning how their source had gotten it.  
The tiger seemed content, and sat, ignoring Chihiro in their entirety.  
They rubbed their hands together, and made those kissy noises pet owners usually make to call their pets. However, the tiger did not stir, and Chihiro became increasingly annoyed and bored.  
"See, I was expecting to deal with a tiger that listens to commands considering I got you from Tanaka, but maybe this is a ploy to get me to despair or something. Therefore, the grrrreat Gundham Tanaka has failed in getting me to despair - this oversized cat is just boring. I bet it wasn't even a fun execution. That's not despairing - that's just plain old disappointing." They yawned, as if to emphasise this.  
"It's not like cursing and damning him will call him here. He does consider himself the dark lord of all, meaning he already damned himself, and we have no clue about where he is in the building, anyway." I so helpfully pointed out.  
"Thanks for that input Leon. Now actually help me get this tiger to fuck off."  
"Do I look like Gundham Tanaka? Because he or possibly even Chiaki would be better in this situation than I am."  
"Gundham Tanaka iF YOU DON'T GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW I'LL EXECUTE ALL TWELVE OF YOUR DAMNED HAMSTERS."  
Chihiro slammed his fists into the floor, causing the tiger to look up lazily, before it began washing itself after it's... meal.  
If we can't get rid of it, how did we get it here in the first place?

"Ugh. Leon, since it doesn't seem to give a shit about our existence right now, you might want to start cleaning up this corpse. It's probably going to get in the way."  
"Uh, sure."  
Yet as I stepped closer, I could see the tiger watching me under lidded eyes, warily.  
I opened up one of the fridges, making sure it was empty based on the green and red lights. Luckily, the actual body was quite easy to relocate, since upon closer examination, the devastated corpse I had seen merely served as an image of the worst that could've happened. That didn't make it any less disgusting to move, and I could just see the tiger watching me out of the corner of my eye.

Against all odds of falling victim to the tiger, I did manage to store the fresh corpse, while causing me slight discomfort - my hands felt uncomfortably dirty, albeit bloody, but I couldn't tell why - I had handled corpses before, and this one was no different, right?  
All that was left was to deal with the tiger, which was still in the room and not moving, but had taken it's eyes off of me.  
"Has that even helped?" I asked, scornfully.  
"Well, it makes the process of cleaning up this place slightly easier because now we just need to remove the tiger without dying - obviously. We wouldn't want to die before we end the game~" Chihiro grinned, as if this situation was fine. Some masterminds we'd be if we died at the hands (or paws, or whatever) of this lazy god damn tiger!

...

This tiger really was satisfied wasn't it? Especially considering Mondo's body was still intact.  
Chihiro's starting to look angry too. Inside, they're probably filled with despair. If that damned over-confident hipster doesn't show up to help, they might find themselves a bloody stain on the floor later.

"I see my feline satisfied the purpose?"  
Of course it was Gundham fucking Tanaka how could it not be. It certainly took him long enough.  
"Only if you can get it out of this shit room. How did we get it in here in the first fucking place? I don't quite remember. Or particularly care if I'm honest. Get it out, I have a school to run."  
Chihiro scorned.  
"Child's play-" I could hear Chihiro huff in annoyance at this comment, "I'll deal with it. There are many more people that it'll be able to feed on once I let it out." Gundham grinned.  
"You'd better not disturb my killing game! They're out investigating right now! Trying to identify me, the mastermind! I'd rather not have them find out because of this! I put so much effort into this plan!" Chihiro angrily growled, before appearing slightly more depressive all of a sudden.  
"But then again, I suppose that just means more despair for me. I just want to share it, but the knowledge that discovering me would cause my beloved classmates hope is just so despairing... An endless cycle of despair~"  
"... of course."  
Chihiro made a complete turn, suddenly appearing cheerful again.  
"Yay! Alright you do this real quick, and we'll leave. I need to check up on my students. Bye Tanaka~!" They gave the widest grin possible, a grin so wide it would have fooled anyone who didn't know of their 'true' title, as the leader of the Ultimate Despairs. Before I could really say anything, though, Chihiro shoved me back into the hole we came from - I mean, it was probably under the floorboards, since it's not likely much else could be under the floor.

But whatever, more importantly, "You seemed like you knew Gundham would show up?"  
"Hm? Yeah, it was kinda pre-arranged. I just wanted to see how you would react to Mondo's dead body!"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, even after I restored all of your memory, you've seemed a biiit off~ Far too quiet, especially while despairing! Personally, I find it a bit weird, but even though your memories were returned, I suppose not being around anyone but Chiaki and I for, what a month? Two weeks? Well, anyway I bet it would take a toll on your active personality, even if you were with the one person you trust most~ ...Chiaki too, but I mean, you get my point, right?"  
"Well... I should speak up more. Maybe there's just nothing to say - we think the same things, at the same time." I smiled. I hadn't even noticed it myself.  
We turned a corner. How did Chihiro remember their way through this?  
"Well anyway, it wasn't just that I wanted to see your reaction, I also needed to keep the number of corpses in those fridges correct or we'd be messing with the investigation! I was getting bored of the tiger man anyway. I think I made too many recurring jokes about his yiff kink. It gets a biiiit boring after a while, for everyone!"  
A ladder. More ahead. So many fucking turns.  
"I suppose that's fair."

...

Silence.

Well this was awkward.

"Hang in there Leon, we're almost there."  
Just how tired did I look?  
"I know!"  
"I can tell you didn't know. You've been blindly following me around because you have no clue about where you're going."  
"... busted."

Then we were there. At the ladder leading to the control room. But Chiaki was sat beneath it.  
Distantly, I could hear giggling, and... Monokuma's voice.  
"RWARRRR! Hand over all your donuts!"

"Asahina and Naegi went investigating in there already." Chiaki yawned.  
"Did you lock the trapdoor?" Chihiro quickly asked.  
"What? No, of course not. I wouldn't miss a chance to despair, now, would I?" Chiaki puffed out her cheeks, and clenched her fists.  
"Juuuuust checking~! I'd have done the same thing~ " Chihiro praised.

"Ah! I found something! There's a button here that says 'self-destruct'"  
"Asahina! Whatever you do, don't push that button!"  
"Aww, fine!"

...  
"Well they're having fun."  
"Thanks for the input Leon."

"Asahina, is something the matter?"  
"Th-This place... gives me the creeps... This is where the mastermind hangs out, y'know? For all we know, there could be all sorts of traps..."  
"..."  
"So, you wanna get out of here? There are still other places we need to check on..."  
"Yeah... All right."

"Finally!"  
"Pipe down Leon, they're still in the room!" Chihiro hissed.  
I sigh. It's getting too stuffy in here, even if it is an entire room.

When we heard the door shut, I'd never seen Chihiro move so fast in my life. I climbed after them, practically leaving Chiaki in the dust, but she didn't particularly seem to care. I got to the top of the ladder and-

"Ack! It's locked! The data processing door is locked!"  
"What!?"  
I could distantly hear the door handle rattling. They must have left the room before Chihiro locked the door.  
"You're right... It's been locked... But why?"  
"Of course it's been locked. The data processing centre is now sealed off." Chihiro pressed a button and quickly began speaking into the microphone.  
"M-Monokuma?"  
Naegi's startled cry rang suddenly throughout the room.  
"Hey! That's not cool, locking us out like that!"  
Asahina berated what I can only assume to be the bear.  
"This is for you guys sake too, you know!" Chihiro spat into the microphone. "If I left the door wide open, I wouldn't be able to move around! This place would be so boring without it's lovable mascot!"  
"Then, as we suspected, that room was-"  
"Right on the money! That was my control room!"  
Acting as Monokuma, Chihiro seemed much happier.  
"Then does that mean... there's someone in that room, right now, controlling you?"  
"Correct~! Someone, somebody, something, controlling me~"  
"Don't lie to me! We would've noticed you!"  
"You didn't notice?"  
"Notice what?"  
"A little something right below your feet when you step into that room! Your footsteps were so loud, I was going deaf."  
"What are you-"  
"I'm talking about a trapdoor, you moron! A trapdoor!"  
Silence.  
"Upupupu! It sure does suck to be you! I'm not letting you back in! You just ruined it for everybody!"  
They laughed and laughed and laughed.  
"I even kept it unlocked for you! I said I'd unlock every room! Speaking of which, I believe I will have an announcement to make soon! Upupupu~ Anyway! You kid's had better run along now: I'm not letting anybody else in, so you'd better take responsibility! See you suckers!" With a click, Monokuma was gone from their sight, leaving Chihiro laughing, almost hysterically.  
"I can't believe they didn't see the trapdoor! Upupupupu!"  
"It was quite obvious... I'm very surprised. It would have been very easy to find us." I stated.  
"Yup! That just makes this so much better~"

"Hey hey, Chihiro? It's been around 2 hours already."  
"Really? I didn't even realise how long we'd spent cleaning up that tiger. Speaking of which, I need to check on the state of that room!"  
Without letting Chiaki reply, they dashed into the other room, and began scanning the cameras for the biology lab.  
Sure enough... Tanaka had gotten the tiger out of the biology lab.  
How the fuck did he do that? How did he get in there in the first place?  
"All good! Time to open the doors! Into the control room with you!" Chihiro announced.  
They grabbed my arm and began feebly dragging me through the door, so I walked with them out of pity at their lack of strength. Had they not kept up with their training schedule Mondo had set up? Not that they could now anyway.

Satisfied that I had been removed from the room, Chihiro sat down in their chair, spinning like an idiot, before tapping a button labelled 'Data Processing Room' and another button near it labelled 'Announcement Set-up.' It seemed like a lot for just an announcement, but Chihiro didn't seem to care. Now that I think about it, why the hell did the school even consider installing this control room? It was Chihiro's idea, I remember, but we never went to the old headmaster or the steering committee or anything.

"Hey there, students! I hope you're having fun investigating, because I finally finished what I was doing in the Biology Lab! The doors are now unlocked, so feel free to check it out! Upupupu~ Goodbye!"  
Chihiro had already finished the announcement, and had even tapped a button to stop the broadcast. Not surprising, honestly, considering there wasn't much to announce.  
Then I remembered something.

"Was my old room locked or blocked off?  
"I don't remember, to be quite honest." Chihiro waved off, not seeming to care particularly much.  
"Then they could get into my room and find us out!"  
"We'll be fiiine~ I doubt Kirigiri's even gotten over her dad yet.  
"If they find anything-"  
"We despair!"  
Chihiro grinned. Then just, got up, and left. I followed them. It's not like I had anything to do in there anyway.

As soon as I walked in, the first thing I heard was:  
"It smells of... blood in here." I nearly froze, hearing Naegi through those speakers. After closer inspection, I saw it was just Naegi.  
"It's... really cold too."  
Had the kid developed a habit of talking to himself? The viewers must think he's crazy or something. Or hired to narrate his thoughts or something, but that just sounds weird. But the simple truth seems to just be that... he talks to himself.

Naegi crouched on the floor, and hesitantly, swiped a fingertip along it. "It's sticky... I suppose the blood must have been cleared up."  
Naegi straightened up.  
"But why would the mastermind... kill someone in here? And who, if we're the only people in the building?"  
Please don't notice the tiger hair please don't notice the tiger hair pleas-  
"Fur? Orange and black fur?"  
Fuck.  
The small kid looked around more. He hissed under his breath, mostly unintelligible, but I did catch something along the lines of the room being important, and that he should investigate properly.

Then he went straight to the fridge I put Mondo's corpse in. I panicked, instinctively looking for Chihiro for guidance, but they were gone. Coincidentally, Monokuma appeared near Naegi at that very moment.  
"Hey Naeeegi~"  
"Monokuma? What do you want now?"  
"Aww, that's no way to greet your headmaster. I was going to give you a special clue as well!" Monokuma drooped, dramatically.  
"Clue?"  
"Of course! I've got some for the others too, but you've made me sad... Maybe I won't give it to you now..."  
Naegi looked like he was considering something.  
"Well anyway, come down to the gym if you want that clue! I'm going to tell everyone to come for their clue over the monitor, but I have high hopes for you, as one of my top performing students~ so I figured I'd tell you personally~"  
Naegi looked suspicious.  
"Then why not give me the clue now? Why make me walk back to the gymnasium?"  
"Becaaaaause you were rude to me! Think twice before you talk to your charming headmaster like that next time~"

He laughed and disappeared, but Naegi seemed to consider a different option.  
Instead of leaving the room for the clue, Naegi went straight back to his investigation of the fridge, cautiously opening it up...

Only to gag at the smell of the large amount of blood that seeped from the torn flesh inside.

After he finished reacting to the smell, he looked back into the fridge, before being extremely confused.  
"W-Wait... whose corpse is this?" Naegi choked out loud.  
His confusion was interrupted soon after the camera set-up of the data centre appeared and began to broadcast Monokuma's announcement.

Naegi, and by extension me as I watched the shorter boy's actions, was not paying attention to the specifics of the announcement. I, hiding in the data centre after the extra cameras showed up, saw him take another look around, before seemingly coming to some kind of conclusion about what happened.  
There was a slight hint of despair on his face as he realised that he could've walked into a carnivorous animal, especially knowing his own ironic luck.  
Regardless, he shut the fridge and quickly dashed out of the make-shift morgue and down to the gym. There were a lot of stairs to traverse, and a lot of corridors to get to each set of stairs, so it was no surprise that he was the last student to get their hint, at least based on Kirigiri's stoic reaction to the announcement which quickly told me that she was not interested in the 'hint' Monokuma was giving them.

The small kid was greeted with... a slightly angry bear.  
"You took so fucking long to get down here! What, do you really think I have the time to sit around and wait for you? I even gave you a heads up!"  
Monokuma was jumping up and down, waving his arms and stomping his paws like a cartoon.  
Naegi was taken aback.  
"I wanted to finish my investigation of the Biology Lab, is all." He nervously defended. "You said I was one of your top performing students - I wouldn't want to let you down?"  
It was clearly thought up on the spot, but Monokuma didn't seem to particularly care.  
"Yeah yeah, I'll never give you up, fuck the sappy shit and take the clue."  
"S-Sure."  
Naegi hastily grabbed the clue and began to tear the envelope open, revealing a photograph. Specifically, one which Naegi had taken of the entire class, happy together on one of the last days before the Tragedy.  
He looked puzzled, which was understandable, but he had seen the other photos scattered around the school, such as the one of Maizono, Celes and Yamada, or even that picture of Mondo, Chi and I, before Mondo knew about any of this.  
"Hey Eggi, I hope that little clue helps you! Upupupupu~ The trial's coming up soon, ya know, so you make sure you finish your investigations!" Monokuma bowed, before disappearing under the floorboards, never to be seen until the class trial was announced later.  
On the other hand, Chihiro emerged from the Monokuma room, stretching their limbs and bouncing up to me, nearly breaking one of the computers. They leapt up to sit on the counter next to me, leaning in my shoulder and yawning.  
"Y'know, despair can be sooo tiring. Sometimes even boring! I've started wishing for cheat codes in real life!"  
Chiaki, who had been oddly silent before, gave a quiet chuckle at her own statement, but didn't say anything else.

"Hey Naegi, you seen master around here?"  
"Uh... no?"  
"So he's playing hard to get, huh? I'll have to go find him!"

We were interrupted by the loud chattering of Genicider in the Biology Lab.

"Where am I anyway? Did gloomy guts pass out again? It's so cold in here, I'm surprised we haven't caught a cold! There'd be endless fun with me in that circumstance~!" The serial killer rattled on, barely giving Naegi a chance to speak.

"Anyway, why'd she even pass out here? Did you hit her round the head? Planning a murder? Well you forgot about me! Kyahahahaha~!"  
"I wasn't trying to-"  
"Ohhhh is thiiiis your victim?" interrupted Genocider. "Showing a murderous side Naegi? Think noooobody would find out about your own killing tendencies? Master'll be ecstatic! Not that he's myyyyyy master of course~"  
"T-This is not the time! And that's Ikusaba's corpse! I'm not the killer, the mastermind is!" Naegi blushed furiously, defending himself.  
"We're trying to solve all the mysteries of the school, remember?"  
"Nope! Last thing I remember is you getting executed, lucky boy! I don't share memories with my other self~"  
"I forgot about that..."  
"Anyway! I'd better go find YOUR master. Have fun investigating, egg boy! Kyahaha!" The serial killer sped out of the room, leaving a vaguely flustered, albeit confused Naegi in her wake.

"Wait until she gets to Togami." Kirigiri had appeared in the room, after supposedly hearing the whole conversation.  
"Kirigiri! That isn't a priority right now!" Naegi protested.  
"We can sort that out after the class trial. Now, I'm here to actually look at Ikusaba's corpse, since I couldn't have much of a look last time." Kirigiri brushed the topic off quickly. "But before I do, something's clearly happened in this room, and recently."  
"Ah! I noticed it as well! There's a lot of weird fur in here, and the floor is sticky as if it's been cleaned recently!" Naegi elaborated. "Not only that, but I looked in one of the fridges and found a really weird body..."  
"...Which one?" Kirigiri answered cautiously.  
"Well..." Naegi walked over to the already open fridge. "This is Ikusaba's corpse, and," he walked over to the fridge which held Mondo's body and opened it, "this is the fridge with the other one."

Kirigiri, as she had during the other murders, didn't react to the sight of a corpse, instead deciding walk up to 'Ikusaba's' corpse. After looking at it for a second, she turned to Naegi.

"This is going to take a while. Try investigating the room a bit more - you never know what else you could find."

Before Naegi could reply, she returned back to the corpse.

Time passed, while the rest of the students did nothing muck notable, aside from avoiding each other best they could. Naegi found the pile of tarps from the Bio Lab (noting it was the same as the one in the garden) and found a problem with the fridges.  
"Sorry to bother you but... there's something suspicious about the fridge lights." Naegi highlighted.  
"As a make-shift morgue, the lights represent whether the fridges are on or off, right? So there should be 10 lights on, correct?"  
"10 lights would represent one for each corpse." Kirigiri was focused more on investigating Mondo's corpse now.  
"Well... three of the lights aren't even on!"  
Kirigiri stopped for a second, and counted the lights for herself. There were only 7 lights.

Chihiro laughed. "I entirely forgot about that! I mean, obviously two of the missing lights are us, but the last one is the real Ikusaba! I killed her before the killing game even started, just to stop her from getting in the way! This is going to get interesting~" the programmer laughed, but only for a short while before their personality changed.  
"But I mean... what if they fail? It'll be so despairing to them, but what of me?"  
"Something tells me... this might not end well." Chiaki lamented. "For us, I mean."

"If there are three missing corpses..." Kirigiri loudly thought to herself. "This investigation may take longer than expected. I need to finish my examination of this corpse first."  
"About Ikusaba's profile... did it match the body?" Naegi asked, innocently.  
"I already checked. I think the results are... quite interesting." She answered, cryptically. "The data on the profile was much smaller than the actual measurements overall, meaning Ikusaba and this corpse are, or were, two different people." Kirigiri revealed their analysis thoughtfully.  
Naegi responded with what was probably the obvious question to ask, in his opinion.  
"Does that mean Ikusaba never existed?"  
"I don't believe so. The mastermind mentioned that, since the school became a killing game, only 16 students have entered this school. We, so far, have no reason to believe this is false." Kirigiri calmly countered, almost amused at the inexperienced lucky student, who chuckled.  
"That's fair, I should've put two and two together. Although..." he put a finger to his chin, half resting on the table with the instructions manual. "If this corpse isn't Ikusaba's, who was it?"  
Kirigiri thought to herself, but whatever she decided on, she kept to herself.  
"We can discuss that during the trial. I think there's enough evidence already. Look at her Monokuma file again."  
Naegi did just that, while Kirigiri finished her investigation on what they would eventually discover to be Mondo's corpse.

"Could it be related to her old wounds? The file says she has a knife wound, her head was caved in by a thick pipe-like weapon, and there are several wounds which are multiple days old." Naegi theorised.  
"We deducted that the knife wound was inflicted after her death, as well as the head wound, so it would make sense, wouldn't it?"  
Kirigiri simply stated: "It would be best to answer that question during the trial."

The two stayed silent for a few moments, Naegi running out of things to ask and Kirigiri wanting to waste less time on answering questions which would have to be proved in the class trial later. Presumably at least.

"Then... what can you tell about that body?" He finally asked.  
"Well... first of all, these gauges in the flesh don't seem to be man-made, or from something like a knife." Kirigiri calmly stated. "These seem like animal claws or possibly teeth, specifically the claws and teeth of a big cat or dog. The sloppy handiwork of the animal imply that it was either starved or inexperienced."  
"That's... a lot of information gathered from just claw and teeth marks?"  
"Combined with other evidence you found, I think it's safe to assume that the predator in question is or was a tiger, and that this murder was staged." Kirigiri continued.  
"It's likely that this was what the mastermind was taking care of before we could access the Biology Lab, meaning that they needed to kill someone before they could continue with the trial and investigation. Your re-appearance and our demand for a final class trial must have caught them off guard somewhat, so they had to finish someone off quickly." Kirigiri smirked.  
"The mastermind seems to like knowing exactly what will happen. They're almost obsessed with it, as if they're trying to get everyone and everything to follow specific instructions. It's just a hunch, with no specific evidence to follow it, but I feel it could be pretty telling."  
Naegi looked a bit lost, yet clearly tried not to show it.  
"Can you tell who the corpse belongs to?" Naegi tugged at the strings on his hoodie. "There must be something, right? Hair would probably be pretty telling..."  
"..." Kirigiri, for once, didn't look entirely sure, but it felt fake.  
"The hair is dark brown, which matches Oowada and Yamada..."  
"Oowada had kind of blonde hair, didn't he?"  
Kirigiri was silent for a second, thinking, before she replied, "No, his dyed his hair. You're thinking of his pompadour, but the rest of his hair was darker and more natural."  
Naegi seemed deep in thought, mumbling to himself.  
"But how do we prove who the body belongs to?"

There was clear uncertainty in Naegi's eyes, as if he didn't think they would be able to make it through this final class trial. It felt thrilling, really. The knowledge that we had created a mystery our classmates couldn't solve sent my blood racing.

Is this despair?

On the other hand, Kirigiri appeared confident, as if we couldn't have left more clues.

"Maybe, if you actually looked at the body yourself, you would be able to tell easily." She smirked.  
"If you remember, Oowada and Yamada had extremely different body shapes. We're lucky to have this much of the corpse left - it is just enough to differentiate the two."  
Naegi suddenly caught up.  
"Then this would be Oowada!"  
"Exactly. The corpse itself seems to be approximately his height."  
Kirigiri, who had been confident a few seconds ago, suddenly appeared puzzled again.  
"Now there's only one more question..."  
"Huh?"  
"Why kill Oowada? Or really, why would they keep him alive, only to kill him later?"  
"Maybe there's a link between Oowada and the mastermind?" Naegi suggested, innocently.  
"Possibly, but if he was working with the mastermind, why kill him now? Plus, if he wasn't working with the mastermind, why keep him alive anyway?"  
"Well... the mastermind's motive for this killing game was purely based on despair, as far as we know. Perhaps they had a similar, albeit unique reason for keeping Oowada alive?"  
"That sounds like you don't think he was another pawn of the mastermind's?"  
Kirigiri raised an eyebrow.  
"The way Oowada acted with Monokuma when we first got here, and how he acted with other students... like Ishimaru!" Naegi seemed confident. "I know Oowada wasn't working with the mastermind!"  
Kirigiri smirked. "I'm sure you can come up with better reasoning than that."  
"Of course I can!"

Chihiro poked me in the side. "I think the investigation period has gone on far longer than it ought to have, huh~" They were grinning like an idiot, their legs swinging under the table.  
"They've found every clue there is, haven't they?" I returned, copying them and kicking my own legs.  
"Why, I can't think of anything else they could have found~"  
They sang sweetly, before jumping off the desk and dashing into the Monokuma control room.

"I'm boooreed. And you know what that means! The investigation period is over! Please make your way to the trial room~!"

As Monokuma's voice rang out across all the camera feeds, I could see the students jump, some shaking.

The final class trial to unmask us was about to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that chapter! I think it was a lot longer than the other chapters, but I've been working on this chapter for months (in reality, probably only a week with a lot of procrastination)
> 
> I'm planning on the next chapter being the final chapter, since I am hoping to end the trial in that chapter. I have started to write a bit of my normal mm!chihiro fic (without the chileon) which I want to upload, but I've also thought of (instead making a blog for it, since I keep coming up with ideas
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I don't know when the next chapter will be finished though 0-0'''


	6. Trial: Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The class trial has begun! So many mysteries, so much evidence, but will the class ever figure everything out? Spoilers: yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOPS ITS THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS FIC  
> I wanted to celebrate by uploading the last chapter and drawing it to a close! Unfortunately, I only realised it was the 1 year anniversary yesterday and couldn't finish the whole thing, plus I might've had to split up what I've written *anyway* so! Two more chapters after this one!  
> I'm sorry adhjds

"Congratulations students! You just made it to the last level! But will you make the right choice? Or the dreadfully wrong one~?"  
Monokuma's deadly voice rang across the courtroom, where the students had instinctively taken their places already, Kirigiri appearing calm and collected, while Asahina and Hagakure's nerves were showing, as they bore an expression of confusion and anxiety.

Meanwhile, Chihiro sat with their feet up on the Monokuma console, microphone in hand, looking about as worried about the trial as a murderer with a clean crime scene and straight alibi, a simile which probably hits very close to home at the moment, but I could tell this trial would end with the students winning and us losing. A final bit of despair for us, with the knowledge that the outside world would show them despair instead.

Breaking the silence of the aggressive courtroom, Monokuma's shrill voice began to speak, "So, how'd you kids like the new decor? Eh, I don't really care, so I'm just going to get right into the special rules of this trial! Aaaand I'll be taking this empty spot~" The bear waddled over to the 16th spot.  
"So! The rules for this veeery special class trial are as follows: for you guys to win, you've got to find the killer of Mukuro Ikusaba, aaaaaand solve every mystery surrounding this school. Otherwise, if you get it wroooong, you lose! And the loser gets executed in my most exciting execution yet! Upupupupu~ Now then... let’s begin!"

The usually silent and stupid Hagakure spoke first.  
"Hey Monokuma, there's not only one mastermind, right?"  
The bear tilted its head. "Eeeeh?"  
Hagakure dig into one of his pockets and drew out a crumpled piece of paper: the special hint photo given to the students by Monokuma.  
"I've got evidence that every single one of you is plotting against me! You all knew each other from the start!"  
"That can't be true!" Asahina objected, digging into her own pockets. "I've got evidence for that too! Except you're all plotting against me!"  
Togami tapped his foot in irritation. "Don't try your lies on me, I know you're all actually plotting against me." He gripped his own clue in his hand.  
Naegi looked worried. "You're talking about Monokuma's clue, right?"  
"Yeah, what else could we be talking about?" Hagakure answered.  
"Well, I also got the same evidence - a photo with everybody but me in it."  
"What? We can't all have the same evidence! Someone must be lying!" Asahina claimed.

Kirigiri, who had simply listened to the ruckus up until now, countered her. "Or, the photo might not be in that context."  
"W-What do you mean?" Fukawa stuttered nervously, having found herself in a trial her life depended on with no evidence and therefore not entirely having a clue what anybody was talking about.  
"Look at who's missing from each photo."  
Hagakure was confused. "But if we consider the 16 of us as a class, I'm the only one missing?"  
"It's the same for me... I'm not in this photo..." Asahina reflected.  
"The only person missing from each photo is the person who received it. Now consider that someone had to take the photo." Kirigiri elaborated, waiting for the other students to follow the trail.  
"So you mean, we took these photos?" Naegi asked, innocently. "Then that means we all must have known each other before this killing game even started..."

"But I only met everyone on that first day! We can't have taken these photos, because we'd remember!" Hagakure argued.  
"Don't forget my amnesia. I doubt that was a coincidence, meaning the mastermind must have wiped our memories of our time together as a class."  
"That's years of lessons and free time gone! I can't believe they would be able to just take that away from us, just like that!" Asahina protested.  
"Group amnesia would explain the letter we found in the library after the first trial. None of us knew the academy had been shut down when we joined, because it hadn't. That happened during the time period in which we lost our memories." Kirigiri continued. "I can imagine the only reason they took our memories was to give us more motive to kill each other." She turned to Monokuma, smirking. "Am I right, Monokuma?"

The bear had only been absently listening to the conversation, only replying after a short pause.  
"I took your memories?"  
The 'confused' claim was likely an attempt to throw Kirigiri and the others off, but her face stayed calm and confident, and the expression on the bear's mechanical face morphed from faux confusion to a morbid grin.  
“You’re cooooorrect! I did take your memories! Congratulations Kirigiri! The rest of you had better participate more! Upupupupu~!”  
“But-” Asahina began to protest against the bear’s absurd comment. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the amnesiac students - I myself had only recently remembered everything, after all.  
Before she could finish her sentence, Monokuma interrupted her.  
“You’re going to ask *how*, right~? Well, I suppose I can give you a sliiiight hint, because you don’t need to answer that for the trial. Buuuuuut, I actually may have stolen it from an upperclassman who had been working on the idea for Hope’s Peak! It was a lot easier since there was a looooot of stuff going on at the time, which was partially my fault, but whatever! Upupupu~”  
“I wasn’t going to ask that! There’s no way I’ve lost my memories!” Asahina yelled over the bear’s explanation.  
“Eeehhh? What do you mean? I literally just told you how I did it?”  
“That doesn’t mean that was the truth! There’s no way something like that exists!”  
Naegi looked thoughtful, before a look on his face indicated that he had new evidence to prove that their memories had been taken.  
“Actually… while we were investigating the old headmaster’s office, Kirigiri and I found a video of everyone consenting to being locked in here…”  
“What!? Naegi, you’re trying to tell me that we *agreed* to be locked in here?” Hagakure looked taken aback, to the point that he must have been exaggerating his actions.  
“I can show you the video - that is, if Monokuma will play it.” He gave a pointed look at the bear.  
“I don’t believe I even need to! Take me at my word, that’s what the video showed!”  
“Let's not run in circles. I think we’ve established that the photos were taken by whoever received it, and the mastermind has figured out how to give everyone in our class amnesia, causing us to forget all our memories of Hope’s Peak, and therefore agreeing on a formal interview with the headmaster to stay in this school for the rest of our lives. Are we in agreement?”  
There were a few murmurs of consent from around the circle, Togami refusing to look Kirigiri in the eyes.

“Anyway! Need I remind you this is *also* a retrial for Mukuro Ikusaba’s killer~?” Monokuma sung.  
“Well, we know the mastermind must be the killer.” Kirigiri stated.  
“T-Then…” Fukawa stuttered, “The mastermind can’t be in this school!”  
“What makes you say that?” Togami sneered.  
“W-Well, why would you s-stay at the place where you are most in d-danger!”  
“Ooh ooh! Sorry Fukawa, but you’ve got that wrong! Naegi and I were investigating the Monokuma door, and turns out there’s a whole Monokuma control panel in there! That means the mastermind must be somewhere in this school!” Asahina excitedly refuted, appearing proud of her achievement.  
“Well, Monokuma has told us before that ever since the killing game began, the only people with access to the school were the 16 students participating, meaning the mastermind must be one of us, the survivors.”  
“Don’t argue that there is conflicting evidence from what Alter Ego told us - the old headmaster was in his thirties, and my father. However, we have since discovered…” Kirigiri’s speech faltered slightly, before continuing, “Naegi and I discovered his bones, wrapped up in a box inside his office. It couldn’t be him.”  
“A-At any rate, I don’t think we should start pointing fingers just yet, right?” Naegi nervously asked.  
“No, we shouldn’t. I think we should start with the true cause of death of Mukuro Ikusaba.” Kirigiri asserted.  
“But, didn’t she die after being struck in the back of the head?” Asahina asked.  
“No - I suspect that was added post-mortem in order to throw us off the trail.”  
“Then what could the cause of death be? That’s the only recent wound!”  
“Actually, in the Monokuma file it states Ikusaba has a lot of old wounds. Perhaps they could be related to that?” Naegi asked.  
Togami grinned and pushed his glasses up his nose like some stereotypical anime villain.  
“I shall give you assistance just this once. I believe I have some evidence that these ‘old wounds’ are, in fact, the cause of death.”  
“We'll go ahead, moneybags! I’m dying of boredom over here!” Monokuma impatiently interrupted, receiving a glare from the lord asshole himself before he continued.  
“There was a file in the headmaster’s office on Mukuro Ikusaba herself, or rather, the second half of the file Kirigiri stole. It was on that file where I found out she arrived at the school with no wounds whatsoever, despite being a soldier of war, meaning she could only have received these wounds since arriving here.”  
“I agree.” Kirigiri consented. “Not only that, but after examining the body I discovered that the wounds on the back of her head and her stomach were inflicted post-mortem, and there were no other wounds on her body.”

“B-But, that means Ikusaba was dead for days before we even f-found her?” Fukawa stuttered.  
“The evidence points to that conclusion.” Kirigiri bluntly stated.  
“Wait! Something doesn’t quite add up! Naegi, didn’t you say Ikusaba attacked you in the middle of the night?” Asahina added, appearing confused.  
“Well…” Naegi thought to himself, before looking up with a flash of confidence. “Perhaps it was the mastermind? I only assumed it was Ikusaba because both her and my attacker wore the same mask and clothes.”  
“Hey Naegi? How’d you know it was your beloved mastermind behind that mask? It could’ve been anyone here in this trial room!” Monokuma asked, acting innocent.  
“W-We all have alibis, you dumb b-bear…” Fukawa argued.  
“Yeah! We were tearing you apart in the gym!” Hagakure added.  
“Kirigiri doesn’t have an alibi? Upupu~”  
Kirigiri looked extremely uncomfortable, looking down at her hands, giving Monokuma the opportunity to mock her.  
“Eeehhh? As I right? Wow miss detective, you reeeeaaally tried to kill your beeeeessst frieeeeend?”  
“I can prove it wasn’t me who tried to attack Naegi. After all, he saw their hands, right?” Kirigiri’s sharp gaze pierced through the scrutinising eyes of the bear.  
“Y-Yeah, I did. They weren’t wearing any gloves, and their hands didn’t have anything of interest on them…”

In a short moment, Kirigiri slid off her gloves and showed them to the class, causing a gasp to rise from most of the students (the ones who actually cared).  
“Kirigiri… this is what you’ve been hiding under those gloves?”  
Kirigiri smiled sadly. “These scars are a constant reminder of a mistake I made when I was a young detective. I don’t like sharing them, but this is to prove my innocence.”  
After a few seconds, she put the gloves back on, saying nothing else.  
“There. We all have an alibi - the attacker has to be you!” Naegi finally countered.  
“Damn, my secret got out… and I got to see Kirigiri’s scars? Gah, disgusting… Upupupupu~”  
“Whatever.” Kirigiri brushed his comment aside.  
“Whatever? You guys know nothing about Ikusaba’s murder! You’re losing!” Upupupu!”  
“Wrong. We know she was killed a while ago, but after the killing game began.” Togami pointed out.  
“But dude! That’s not very much!” Hagakure argued.  
“Well… was she murdered in secret?” Asahina suggested.  
“Where would the mastermind have kept the body?”  
“The garden!” Hagakure boldly stated.  
“It can’t be the g-garden, you idiot! Not only would we have s-seen it, the body would have rotted!”  
“I think the body was stored in the Bio Lab - after all, that’s where we found the corpses of… everyone who died…” Naegi paused, mourning the loss of life.  
“Not only that, but the tarp we found in the garden was labelled ‘Bio Lab’, so it was likely used to move the body from the Bio Lab to the Garden while everyone was busy.”  
“Hey Omelette? Egg? Got any proof of that statement?” Monokuma asked. Chihiro looked vaguely stressed - we both knew how much we’d fucked up in that room. We’d left so much evidence.  
Unfortunately for us, Kirigiri noticed the defensive tone in the bear’s robotic voice.  
“He said ‘likely’, not that he knew it was used. Why get so defensive over a theory?” She smiled at the bear’s infuriated silence. “Perhaps because that room is the key to figuring out your identity?”  
More silence.  
“Oh yeah! I noticed that th-” Naegi was quickly cut off by the bear.  
“Does the Bio Lab really matter right now? I thought we were solving Ikusaba’s case?”  
“Yes but-”  
“Then let's get back to that! I haven’t heard any evidence related to whether or not I actually used that tarp?”  
“That doesn’t matter! The Bio Lab holds the clue to your identity!”  
“No it doesn’t! Where’s your evidence?”  
“The lights!”  
“The northern lights?”  
“No, the lights on the storage containers! Only-”  
“Does it fucking matter?”  
“Only seven of the containers-”  
“Let's get back to the body!”  
“Had lights indicating they were in use!”  
“Shut up, you egg!”  
“Meaning there are three missing bodies!”  
“Fuck!”

Naegi looked satisfied at the outcome, but the slower members of the group, such as Hagakure, were still confused.  
“What do you mean there were three missing bodies?”  
Kirigiri decided to explain this one. “There were sixteen students in the school. Minus the six of us, that leaves 10 students - the same amount of victims and killers we’ve had. However, three bodies were missing.”  
“Then, what’s special about the bodies which disappeared?” Asahina asked.  
“Well, my theory is that one of the missing bodies was Ikusaba’s body - she was killed twice.”  
“How the h-hell can you be killed twice?” Fukawa asked, like a sane person.  
“Ikusaba was killed before, right in front of us, then used again more recently in order to frame me and keep the game going.” Kirigiri reasoned.  
“Wait… you’re suggesting Ikusaba was hiding as one of us?” Hagakure nearly yelled, and began shaking.  
Kirigiri looked dead at the bear before smiling and saying, “I don’t think she was hiding at all. I think we’ve mis-identified our culprit.”  
“What proof do you have for THAT bold claim? Didn’t you prove that the body was Ikusaba?” Monokuma tried to make her doubt her deductions, but failed miserably.  
“Well, when I visited the Bio Lab with Naegi, I measured the corpse, referencing her profile, and found that none of them matched up.”  
“Oh yeah? In what way?”  
“Certain… proportions were much larger than listed on the profile. The body can’t have belonged to Ikusaba, but someone else.”  
“Didn’t you say the corpse had the tattoo of Fenrir on its left hand? Ikusaba was the only person part of that mercenary group!”  
“I did say that, but anyone could have covered the tattoo with makeup, which could have burned off in the explosion. I have no evidence, but the tattoo could have been inked post-mortem, much like the other wounds.”  
“If you’re so insistent that this isn’t Ikusaba’s corpse, whose is it? You’d better give evidence too!”  
“Think about it. We know the old wounds were the cause of death, so who do those wounds match up to?”  
“Quit playing around with riddles, and just tell us.” Togami sneered, hiding the fact that he had no clue.  
“There’s no riddle.” Naegi pondered. “Think about it - who could have received wounds like that when they were murdered? Maizono was stabbed in the stomach, but that wound was post-mortem, Kuwata was pelted by baseballs, and so on, but the only person who could have received wounds like Ikusaba’s was… Enoshima.”  
“Exactly. The Ultimate Fashionista would easily be able to get hold of a good foundation, too, although I do not know of her connection to Fenrir.” Kirigiri elaborated. “Plus, I do not believe either was pretending to be the other, based on their measurements.”

“So Monokuma? Are we correct? The true person this trial is for… is actually Junko Enoshima?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I get that this fic is really old, but I think I'll try to finish it sometime soon. Again, no idea when I'll update next, but I've started writing the next chapter already!  
> The trial will be split up into three parts, including this one, and then (hopefully) I can finally finish writing this, after over a year since starting it!  
> Thank you all for being patient with me!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope that chapter was okay! 0-0'''  
> I don't know when I will upload the next chapter, but I have a lot more of it written than my OC fic.
> 
> Please tell me how I could improve this!  
> I've already gone through it to correct half of it :')


End file.
